Richard Patry confides his “emotion” to see the Bernay cinema finally open

Richard Patry, you are at the head of a group, Noe cinemas, which operates 44 cinemas, including that of Bernay. Do you still feel the same emotion when you open new rooms?

Richard Patry: Yes, always. The emotion remains strong. The job of operator, we do it out of passion, we also do it because, modestly, we think we can bring something to our fellow citizens. A cinema is a place where we share, where we laugh, we cry, we have fun together. As for Bernay’s new cinema, it will have taken a long time to open, its history has had many twists and turns, so yes, I will feel a lot of emotion to see it finally open.

Like the other structures that you operate, the Multi-Rex is equipped with state-of-the-art equipment and everything has been designed in its layout around the screen. Are these deliberate choices?

Yes, because with Jean-Fabrice Reynaud, we believe that it is not because we live in a small town that we should not have beautiful structures like in a big city. And then, we consider that we owe to those who come to the cinema as well as to all those who have contributed to the release of a film, which requires mad energy, an optimum quality rendering. At Bernay the sound will be of 7.2 quality, the highest there is. The projection will be done in laser from January. All the interior fittings have indeed been designed from the screen. The inhabitants of Bernay will have at their disposal what is currently best.

Will they also benefit from preview screenings, meetings with directors, events such as exist in larger cities?

Yes, of course, but it is still too early to give you a detailed list. We focused on the opening date we had set for ourselves, December 23, 2022. Since the resumption of work, we have had four months to complete the project. Four months to fit out four cinemas, we succeeded, but I can assure you that it is a record. We had this objective because the site had lasted too long before. We therefore concentrated on this opening, which, it must be admitted, was taking place in an incredible form of urgency. But once the cinema is open, the entertainment will follow, don’t worry.

Initially, the bearer of the cinema project in Bernay was Jean-Fabrice Reynaud, of Reynaud cinemas, who, in the grip of financial difficulties, called on you and you joined forces. Does this foreshadow other collaborations between you in other cities?

You’re right, Jean-Fabrice told me about his difficulties and that’s what led us to work together at Bernay. But the collaborative form is not new to Noe cinemas. It is in force for example in Palaiseau, Chaumont or Vernon. On some of these projects, Noe employees have become partners. With Jean-François Reynaud, to come back to him, we had already teamed up to buy Le Morny in Deauville. At the start, we were competitors on this issue, a competition that would have led to one-upmanship and could have become destructive. More wisely, we then decided to join forces. Then, Jean-Fabrice telling me about his difficulties at Bernay – Editor’s note: the cinema construction site remained at a standstill for several months due to a lack of cash – we decided to join forces in order to finally get this cinema out of Earth.

Your interest in the town of Bernay does not date back to recent years. In 2008 you wanted to buy the Rex, didn’t you?

Absolutely. But our file had not been retained, it was Jean-Fabrice Reynaud who had obtained the market. Well, we can’t win every time and suddenly he was considered better than us. Subsequently there were several more modern cinema projects in Bernay, for which I was asked, but I always refused to intervene as long as Jean-François operated the Rex in Bernay. The evolution of the situation meant that our rapprochement then took place in a very natural way.

The State and local authorities very often support your projects. This was the case in Bernay. Do you find it normal that public money is injected into your projects?

You talk about public money, allow me to point out that there is also a lot of private money, millions of euros, at stake. But if we don’t want to sell a cinema ticket for €50, we have to call on communities to support us. This is not shocking. As others have done to finance cinemas, theatres, football pitches elsewhere… here several local authorities have chosen to support us. This allows us to offer affordable prices. In Bernay the maximum price is €9 per seat and a whole grid has been put in place so that a large number of people can benefit from reductions. We thus hope to bring 60 to 80,000 people to the cinema in Bernay per year. Without public money, we would have kept a Le Rex type cinema in Bernay. With public money, we are building a modern and unifying place for the entire population.

Your sector of activity has had to face several crises, including the so-called health crisis, certainly the most virulent. Will he recover completely?

For the moment, the cinema has always known ascending and descending phases, but there indeed, we see the greatest crisis ever. But we will “get out of it,” I’m sure. Why ? Because cinema is part of our DNA, it cannot die. And the more beautiful rooms we make everywhere, the more people will be amazed and the more they will come back to the cinema.

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